


Sweet Nightmare

by CorsetJinx



Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: Doppelganger, F/M, Magical Accidents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 10:04:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12106341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorsetJinx/pseuds/CorsetJinx
Summary: Something's not right. Not all is what it seems. She just needs to remember what's real in order to set things right. Right?





	Sweet Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Featuring my oc Arum Pendergast.

It felt wrong. This, all of this, felt _wrong_ somehow.

Arum tugged the skirts of her dress up, bunching the fine - finer than anything she had ever owned before - cloth between her gloved fingers and ran. Out of the room and putting her back to its well-dressed, elegantly dancing crowd. Figures moved aside to let her pass, flashes of color on her peripheral vision that lacked definition - as though she were stuck in a watercolor painting, shapes muddied by the artist’s hurried brush.

The hall took forever to open up. Stone walls, floor and ceiling stretched on and on with no end in sight no matter how hard and fast she pumped her legs. The heels of her shoes dug into her feet as she ran, spikes of discomfort bordering on pain nearly the only thing convincing her that any of this was real.

Something warm and strong snagged her arm, almost sending her into a sprawl on the ground if not for the powerful tug that pulled her back against a firm chest.

“Where are you off to?” Familiar, teasing, perhaps even a little disappointed, her head snapped up at the sound of Luca’s voice. He smiled down at her, green eyes bright with mischief. One of his brows quirked, turning his expression slightly sardonic. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna abandon me at this stuffy sort of party. I thought we were supposed to go together, like a proper prince and princess?”

Her mouth worked but no words came to her aid as she stared at him. He looked like her Luca - all smooth confidence and causal arrogance, right down to the amused glimmer in his eye when he asked if a carbuncle had her tongue.

But something still felt wrong. Just slightly off, even if she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Hey.” His tone softened, free hand lifting to cup her cheek. His glove was warm on her skin, blessedly soft. “Are you nervous about meeting my parents? Is that it? If it is, you don’t - “

She didn’t hear the rest of his sentence, tensing as she processed what he’d said.

_Parents_. Luca didn’t have _parents_. He only knew the name of his mother, no more, could only guess who his father could have been. _Even then_ , there was no way - 

Numb, her eyes trailed back the way she’d come - had she even made any progress running at all? The ballroom looked much closer than she could remember it being. As though she’d barely crossed the threshold of the hall to get some air. Men and women danced, mingled and talked - two in particular standing out towards the front of the room.

Princess Aulelia hid a smile behind her hand as a man dressed in green beside her began to laugh - fully, rich and beautiful. On her other side was Conrad Schuyler, simple professor’s robes gone in favor of a suit befitting a Royal Wizard - warm browns and golds, his hair free of gray and faintly wavy and tied back with a ribbon.

Looking back at Luca, Arum sees one thing that adds to the impossibility of the picture: two emerald earrings, clasped in gold, dangling from his ears.

_Impossible_ , she knows, because _her_ Luca only had one earring of the set. The other was in a locked box in Schuyler’s desk, warded with the most powerful spells against theft the man knew how to cast.

“Arum?” Luca’s thumb stroked her cheek, but the intimacy of the action didn’t reach his expression. If anything his eyes were cold when she met his gaze - more distant than she could ever remember them being. Even when they’d had their disagreements, even when he’d threatened her in the Tower of Sorrow. “Love, what’s wrong? Getting cold feet, Princess?”

Princess. The nickname he only used when he wanted to tease her about something, expecting her to tease back.

But when _this_ Luca said it, it took on a different connotation. Mocking, almost.

“You aren’t him.” She said each word slowly. Carefully.

Slim brows drew together as he frowned at her, hand loosening on her arm. He studied her face, eyes flicking between hers as he searched them for something.

“What are you talking about, Princess? I’m me, same as I’ve always been.”

“You aren’t Luca.” Shaking him off, she took a step back. Then another. He watched her, something flashing across his face too quickly for her to analyze.

A memory - hazy and vague - tugged at the back of her mind. She’d been in a hall like this before. Alone, looking for something.

_A mirror. Taller than she was, covered with a heavy cloth until she’d pulled on it, accidentally looking into the glass._

“This isn’t real.” Arum repeated, taking another step back from him. “You aren’t my Luca.”

That flash of _something_ again - his face clouding as though he couldn’t decide whether or not to be upset. He started to reach for her, stopping when she hurried another half-step away. His fingers curled, forming a loose fist before he lowered it to his side. Tipping his head to the side, he smiled - looking so much like the real Luca for a second that she almost doubted herself.

“I thought it would last a little longer, to be honest.” He sighed. What might have been regret made his stare waver, but his smile was only sad. “Some part of you really wanted to be his princess. I was happy to play the part, if it meant you’d stay.”


End file.
